Friday, 1 November 2013

Two Weeks: Episode 15

It's D-1, and you know what that means: things are going to get worse before they get better. Still, in the scheme of the last two weeks, you could call it a good day for our hero, who finally turns the tables on the baddies by fanning the flames of betrayal. Turns out when you're up against nefarious evildoers, convincing them they can't trust each other isn't very hard to do.

SONG OF THE DAY

Dickpunks – "이 사람이다 (It's This Person)" for the OST [ Download ]

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EPISODE 15 RECAP

Tae-san makes his deal with Congresswoman Jo—he keeps her secret riches a secret, and she agrees not to interfere when he brings Boss Moon down for murder. They shake on it at his request, and Jae-kyung snaps the money shot from the rooftop across the way.

They watch her leave immediately to go meet Boss Moon, and Jae-kyung asks how he knew she'd take the bait. Tae-san says that people are all the same, and those who think they're above everyone else act accordingly. I guess you could call it his area of expertise now—being trampled on more times than you'd think possible.

A flashback to last night reveals the plan in more detail, as Tae-san comes up with the idea to make it look like they're investigating Halfwit, Boss Moon's right-hand man, as the killer. They know he was at the scene of the crime and the knife was his, and though he won't betray his boss easily, if they push hard enough and show him that Boss Moon turned his back on him first, he might confess the truth.

Tae-san also comes up with the idea to make a Digital Camera 2.0, which is a much better plan than banging your head against the wall for losing the first camera. His plan is to get his meeting with Congresswoman Jo on film, because she can't explain away the fact that she met a fugitive and let him go without reporting him. Jae-kyung gapes at him, wondering how a guy so smart lived his life that way. You and me both, sister.

Congresswoman Jo meets with Boss Moon and tells him what Tae-san threatened to do. He's up in arms about the little punk daring to try and make deals on their level, but she's more practical about saving her hide. She can't continue with the auction this way, and tells him they'll cancel it.

But she smiles to herself on her way out, clearly planning to cut him out of the loop and continue without him.

Tae-san waits for his moment and just walks right up to Boss Moon. He even dares him to call and report him, knowing he's too scared to do it. He purposely needles Boss Moon's wavering trust in Congresswoman Jo and Halfwit, wondering how loyal they'd really be when it came to their own survival.

I love that he gets to make his point and saunter away, leaving Boss Moon stewing in his doubt. Oh how the tables have turned.

Halfwit drinks, trying to convince himself that his boss would never betray him. Tae-san's words sound eerily true though, and he ought to know, having taken the fall for the boss twice over. Halfwit searches for the pawnshop maknae Seok-doo, who's gone into hiding ever since Tae-san's last visit that spooked him. But Boss Moon gets to him first.

Meanwhile Seung-woo leads the investigation based on security footage from the hospital, and tracks down the girl who delivered the drugged drinks. She works at Halfwit's club, and he gets the confession he's looking for: Halfwit drugged the drinks and ordered her to deliver them.

Halfwit is wound up so tight when he meets the boss that he can barely make eye contact. But Boss Moon surprises him by being nice—too nice, not that Halfwit would know the difference—and offering up Seok-doo as the sacrificial lamb. The police have found the holster that fits the knife, so they'll have to say he gave it to Seok-doo as a present.

Halfwit rushes out to meet Seok-doo, back to his usual blustering self. But as he pulls out of the parking garage, Tae-san suddenly pops up in his backseat. AAAAH. I know you're the good guy, but that was creepy.

He's sooo laid-back about it, like he just popped by for a visit, and asks Halfwit the million-dollar question: If he goes to see Seok-doo right now, will he find Seok-doo, or the police? Tae-san does a hilarious imitation of Boss Moon's voice, reenacting the conversation that likely took place: call the police and set up Halfwit, otherwise Seok-doo takes the fall in his place.

Tae-san's got him on the hook, and he starts to go down the list of all the crimes he'd be convicted for, from murder to evidence tampering, to kidnapping, and kidnapping again… all told, at least thirty years in prison, on the low end.

He says they already have the girl who passed out the drugged drinks, scoffing that he should've used a girl he wouldn't recognize: "Do you know how long I lived in that neighborhood? While you were kidnapping my Su-jinnie, you bastard… even if you'd used a girl whose face I didn't know, I would have chased her to the ends of the earth and killed you. Did you really think I'd leave you alone, you son of a bitch?"

He sits back as Halfwit drives to meet Seok-doo to find out for himself. They park a block away and Halfwit calls to change the location at the last minute, and watch as Seok-doo calls the detectives out of hiding. Tae-san smirks and tells Halfwit to call when he's ready.

Jae-kyung is reluctant to face her boss after his betrayal during Boss Moon's interrogation. She slides over her notice that she's quitting, but asks for two days to make sure that Su-jin gets her surgery and that Tae-san clears his name.

She refuses to listen to the chief prosecutor's excuses for why he caved to Congresswoman Jo's power play to get Boss Moon released, making her disappointment clear: she trusted him, and that was her mistake. He doesn't deny it, and agrees to help her finish the case and put Moon Il-seok away for good.

Tae-san calls with news that Halfwit took the bait, and tells Jae-kyung to make sure they catch him. Meanwhile Halfwit goes to his club and opens up a safe, where he still has Boss Moon's bloody shirt from the day of Mi-sook's murder. Nice. It's even monogrammed.

Tae-san looks up at the hospital with a hopeful smile on his face, and texts In-hye to ask how Su-jin is doing. It perks her right up to hear that Dad is asking about her, and she takes the phone to reply herself, when another text comes from Seung-woo asking the very same thing.

It weighs on her, and she flashes back to that father-daughter picnic that Seung-woo took her to. During the Daddy and Me portrait session, she ponders what to draw, and then shows Seung-woo the final product: her, standing between Dad on one side, and Seung-woo on the other. Aw.

He's shocked and grateful that she included him in the drawing, and she says it's because he was there for everything, like her first day of kindergarten. She uses his words—that he's been her bodyguard in place of her dad.

He's moved, and calls it more thrilling than when he proposed to In-hye, and Su-jin says that can't be true because she knows how much he likes Mom. He explains that when you love someone you love what they love, and In-hye loves Su-jin most in this world. She agrees on that score.

But then she adds: "Not me. I like you because you're good to me, not because Mom likes you." Ohmygod, she's so cute.

Back in the present, she lets out this hilariously adult sigh, like she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders. Mom wonders what she could have to sigh about, and Su-jin asks if the Sun, the Mountain, and the Moon can't all be together: "They can't, right?"

In-hye doesn't think much of her running metaphor, and says that the sun and the moon can't really be together since they're night and day. Su-jin prods that the mountain needs the sun, in order for the trees to grow. "Right?"

In-hye pauses, realizing they're not talking about mountains and suns anymore. She sees Su-jin's drawing, labeled "Big Mountain," the way she had explained Tae-san's name, and it dawns on her what she's been talking about this whole time.

Su-jin: "Because I just like Daddy. I like Ajusshi too… but Dad is Dad…" She looks so torn up about saying it out loud, like it makes her a terrible person.

A moment later, we watch as Seung-woo and Tae-san both get the exact same text from Su-jin, saying that she's doing okay. It's extra heartbreaking that they react the same way to hear from her.

Tae-san's actually inside the hospital by the time he gets the message, and when he turns the corner, he and Seung-woo cross paths. My heart still lurches, even though I should know by now he's not going to get arrested. They sit down for an awkward chat, and Seung-woo reminds Tae-san that he'll still have to come in after Su-jin's surgery to be questioned about everything that happened.

Seung-woo says he won't be the one to question him though, because he'll have his own crimes to answer for. He apologizes and admits that he's the one who turned the camera over to Boss Moon.

Tae-san surprises him by saying he already knows—not from In-hye, but he guessed it that day Seung-woo chased him into the warehouse and apologized. So vaguely? That's… quite the leap. Whatever, we'll go with it. Seung-woo asks why he didn't tell In-hye, and Tae-san says it wouldn't have changed anything: "It would only hurt her to know."

They're interrupted when Seung-woo gets a call from Halfwit, saying that he left Boss Moon's bloody shirt at the police station. He refuses to turn himself in to testify until after the boss is arrested, otherwise someone would be sent to kill him in jail. Yeah, we know what that's like.

Seung-woo tells Tae-san that they've got the evidence, and congratulates him on a job well done. Tae-san breaks into happy tears to realize he's finally in the clear. This only makes me more nervous, because it's way too early for this to be the case.

Jae-kyung opens up the box to find the bloody shirt inside, along with the name of Boss Moon's tailor who custom-makes his shirts. Even better.

In-hye looks at Su-jin's drawing of Big Mountain and Sun, and thinks back to her story about Mountain pretending not to love Sun to push it away, even though it loved Sun dearly. She's floored to realize how much of her own story Su-jin understands.

Tae-san calls with the good news that his name will be cleared, and In-hye rushes down to meet him, which Su-jin notes while she pretends to sleep. In-hye beams and congratulates him for clearing his name. She promises to tell Su-jin that her dad has taken care of all the baddies, and then they just stand there smiling at each other awkwardly. It's cute, but I also want to scream at them to hug.

We cut to Teacher Kim poring over blueprints somewhere. Augh, I almost forgot about you. I knew it was too early to claim victory. Boss Han's request to keep the cell phone charged niggles at him, so he turns it on to find a dozen missed calls and texts.

Among them is a picture of Boss Han holding his son as a child. The message says that he didn't give him that pen to use as a murder weapon.

Boss Han tries calling again, but the phone is turned off. Tae-san returns and finds ajusshi still waiting, and asks why he doesn't just go ask Boss Moon himself. Tae-san can't imagine letting Boss Moon live if he had done that to his son, but Boss Han points out he was in the same position when he kidnapped Su-jin, but Tae-san didn't kill him either.

Boss Han: "You were angry, but you didn't want her to be the daughter of a murderer, so you held back. That's what a father is." Tae-san thinks on that a moment, and realizes that perhaps that was the case with his own father—maybe he didn't hate him, but had a story he couldn't tell.

Boss Moon calls Seok-doo to find out what happened with their plan to turn Halfwit over to the police, but his suspicions flare when he hears the meeting was postponed. Seung-woo and Jae-kyung pull up outside his house and bust in, guns drawn… but Boss Moon is already gone. Damn, I knew it seemed too easy.

Jae-kyung finds the secret passageway hidden behind the fireplace, but they find his storeroom cleared out in a big hurry. He drives away with his emergency money bag and calls his brainy minion, who tells him about Halfwit and the bloody shirt. Boss Moon only now puts together the pieces and realizes this is what Tae-san was after.

Tae-san freaks out to hear they lost him, and goes to the hospital to make sure Boss Moon didn't go there. No, he chose to go to Congresswoman Jo's house, to make sure that the auction would go as planned, and that he'd get his payday before fleeing the country.

Boss Moon relocates to a hideout with Brainy and Teacher Kim, and decides he can't just leave the country like this. He won't let Jang Tae-san be the one who took him down, and vows to get revenge before he's able to step foot inside that operating room to save his daughter.

Tae-san can sense Boss Moon's vengeance boiling over, and as he paces in the hospital corridor, he thinks back to Boss Han's words, that that's the kind of bastard Moon Il-seok is: he'll pay you back hundred-fold what you did to him. I have to admit that this motivation is far scarier than money, since he's likely to act irrationally now that he has nothing to lose.

The cop who's on Su-jin duty watches him curiously. Augh, you're the mole, aren't you? Af%#&*$^%. We don't have time for you to meddle right now!

Tae-san asks Su-jin's doctor if they can speed up the surgery by a day, and we don't hear her answer. Jae-kyung comes to see him and says they'll surround the hospital with guards, but Tae-san says it's not enough. Boss Moon will stop at nothing, even giving up his own life to get revenge. This much he knows.

Jae-kyung asks if that's why he asked to move the surgery up, and he says he needs her help. Wait, so can they do the surgery early? That doesn't seem right. Though I suppose by now it's only a matter of hours, not days.

Jae-kyung has her team release the photo of Tae-san and Congresswoman Jo. The story breaks and Congresswoman Jo simply says that an investigation will show that the photograph is a fake.

Tae-san meets with In-hye in the hospital and apologizes for having to move the surgery around, and promises that no matter what, he'll make sure Su-jin lives. She tells him to stop talking that way, and assures him that they'll all be okay in the end. Erm, stop saying that out loud. You'll jinx it!

And a few feet away, the cop eavesdrops on their conversation and calls Brainy. You ARE the freaking mole. He asks to speak to Boss Moon directly and demands a billion won in exchange for the information, which has to do with Tae-san's surgery.

Boss Moon is so far gone that he orders his minions to hand over the money if it means he can get Tae-san before he goes. So Brainy pays off the cop to learn that the surgery is going down tonight at 10 p.m., and proceeds to bribe more hospital security staff to look the other way when it comes time.

The baddies find out that there are two possible operating rooms where Tae-san will be, based on the hospital's schedule. Boss Moon says he'll take one while Teacher Kim takes the other, intent on killing Tae-san with his own hands.

The doctor explains the marrow transplant procedure to Tae-san, and the part that worries me most is the post-op… when he's asleep and defenseless. There will be many cops, right? Many cops with many guns?

In-hye sees him off with a sweet smile, calling him "Su-jin's dad," and then he takes a deep breath on the operating table as the procedure begins…

Boss Moon and Teacher Kim get ready to leave, when Teacher Kim asks hesitantly, "Father, who am I?" He asks if Father knew who he was from the start, instead of finding him by chance.

But one swift warning from Boss Moon shuts down his question, and he apologizes for asking. Man, I actually feel sorry for the killer.

Seung-woo and his team spread out and each take a post. Wait, there are more cops than you, right? What the hell? Are you the only five cops in all the land?

Boss Moon and Teacher Kim get in posing as delivery men, and with Mole's help, Boss Moon sneaks into Tae-san's room while the doctor steps out.

As Su-jin crosses off another day on her calendar, Boss Moon enters the darkened room. Eep, why is Tae-san's face covered, like a corpse?

He inches forward, knife drawn… D-1.

COMMENTS

I have the suspicion that Tae-san lured Boss Moon here, but offering yourself up as bait at this point in the game is pretty ballsy. Either he figures once his marrow is taken it doesn't matter if he lives or dies (I don't like this option at all, thank you), or the whole thing is a trap, though if that's the case I don't see why you wouldn't just line the place with cops and catch Moon when he enters the building. Is the SWAT team booked for a previous engagement? Could you not even get a few traffic cops to stand guard?

I was frankly nervous we'd have even bigger setbacks, say losing more evidence or Team Baddie straight-up kidnapping Tae-san in the eleventh hour, but Boss Moon being blinded by vengeance actually simplifies things. We get a clear source of danger, while the investigation doesn't get derailed. I'm a little disappointed in that it's obvious (there are no surprises plotwise if he's just kill, kill, kill) but I do find the villain more threatening now that his motivation is terrifying irrational blood vengeance. I like that it's a firmly grounded motivation, since we've seen him turn ugly from the start. This is a man who always does the thing that gets him ahead, except when he's so ragey that it's kill first, think later. Before Tae-san was an annoying loose end; now Boss Moon would rather die getting his revenge than let Tae-san walk free.

It's been a nice progression for Tae-san to become the thinker leading the good guys, and it's extra salt in the wound that he's gaining the upper hand by using the gangsters' own practices against them, knowing what a distrustful, backstabby lot they are. He's experienced it all firsthand, and now he actually gets to use that knowledge to his advantage, which is nicely circular and karmically satisfying. He hardly needs to do anything except pit their own suspicious natures against each other, and sit back and watch them tear each other apart. It's still a mystery how they'll get Congresswoman Jo, but I feel like the gangsters are all but done for.

They're really wringing my heart with the My Two Dads thing, and I enjoy that the brunt of the emotional conflict is actually on Su-jin who loves both dads, not on In-hye. It works because that's always been the emotional center of the show above the romance, and it really got to me when that little kid was torn up about Seung-woo as a surrogate father—she liked him on her own, and she understood what it meant that he was there for her when her dad wasn't, but she can't deny wanting Dad. And then of course that whole conflict is mirrored in the sad version with Teacher Kim and his two gangster fathers, whose feud ended in what has to be the sickest revenge ever. It hasn't been explained, but if Teacher Kim is indeed Boss Han's son, that means Boss Moon kidnapped him, became his surrogate father, and brainwashed him into a killer. That's some dedication to revenge. I actually feel sorry for the sad assassin boy, who became a killer just because he wanted his surrogate father's love. What the hell.

I'm just going to do my happy ending rain dance of Please Don't Kill the Hero Or Else, and I'll see you guys on D-Day! Su-jin appa, fighting!